New sports facility in Branston is 'kicked-off' in style

14 November 2011

Branston and Mere Parish Council celebrated the launch of a new sports facility in the village, with the help of a couple of players from Lincoln City FC.

Branston and Mere Parish Council, along with Branston Ltd and Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd (WREN), hosted the official opening to mark the completion of the new astro-court at Moor Lane sports field in Branston.

To help them officially open the new court, they were joined by Lincoln City FC players Joe Anyon and Adam Watts to cut the ribbon. There was also a junior football match, two prize draws and the chance for villagers to try out the new cricket nets.

Branston has donated over £30,000 towards the new playing field, which was also funded by a grant from WREN, a not-for-profit business that helps benefit the lives of people who live close to landfill sites by awarding grants for community, conservation and heritage projects.

The new court is a multi use games area, which is fully enclosed and has floodlights so it can be used throughout the year for five-a-side football, tennis and cricket.

Branston was approached by members of Branston Parish Council who needed to source additional funding to complete their project.

Sarah Stead, clerk to Branston and Mere Parish Council, said: "The need for a new facility came to light a few years ago, when we realised we couldn't use the playing field in the evenings during the winter months because there weren't any floodlights. We tried to rig up our own, but it didn't work. We then heard about WREN funding from a neighbouring village, and thought we'd give it a try. We'd heard that Branston was supportive of local projects and were delighted when they also agreed to contribute towards the new astro-court. The event on Saturday was a great way to show people what is now on offer, and we are delighted to already be taking bookings. We want people to know we are now open for business!"

Graeme Beattie, managing director at Branston, says: "We believe that it is really important to put money in to the communities where our factories are based, so when the parish council approached us about the astro-court, we were happy to be able to support it. We thought it was a great initiative, and one that would benefit so many young people in the area. We're really keen to get behind initiatives that promote health and wellbeing, and this really fitted the bill."

Cheryl Raynor, grant manager for WREN said: "We receive a large number of applications from village organisations looking for funding for particular projects and it can be challenging to pick out individual ones. They have to be beneficial to the local area and we look at application forms to assess whether the project will deliver improvements to the local community as a whole, rather than just individuals. We felt the astro-court really filled these requirements and are really pleased with how great it looks."

If you are interested in making a booking for the court please call Victoria on 07531 671768 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).